Jun 30, 2010

Secrets of Online Communities

In this digital age, nearly all Internet-surfing people in the planet can claim membership to an online community or two. In case you don't know what an online community is, it’s any forum, chat room, social network, blog, email subscription, or website that you have access to. It's the virtual place in the Internet that you go back to time and again. It's where you meet virtual friends, make virtual talk, and may even feel completely and virtually at home.

If you're a business owner, online communities are also very useful to you. Your online marketing campaign, such as email marketing, is often conducted in these online communities. Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, or MySpace. Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon -- these are online communities familiar to online marketers.

But there is another perspective to online communities that business owners can leverage. From being the venue to online marketing campaigns, how about having your own online community to cultivate your business? Why not launch your email marketing campaign to the members of your own community?

Here are some reasons why you should cultivate your own online community:

1. Communities attract members that could potentially become customers.
2. Customers are given a venue to communicate their suggestions, needs, feedbacks, or complaints about your business.
3. You can communicate directly to your community for any product or business update.
4. You can track customer engagement to your business.

While online communities sound potentially nice for your business, it's not a walk in the park to build a thriving community of your own. To successfully build a community, you need to take to heart these important ideas:

1. Online communities are grown patiently, not built in an instant.
2. Online communities are propelled by leaders and stewards.
3. Online communities should encourage sharing.
4. Online communities should provide members with something of value.

Nearly all successful online communities have these characteristics in common. Building one is almost like agriculture. You tend a plot of land, water it, and plant a few seeds. The rest of the community's growth is up to the members of the community.